All posts tagged unemployment data

Poster aimed at bankers at a march organised by unions and action groups demonstrating against U.K. Government cuts.

By Ainsley Thomson and Alex Brittain

The U.K. labor market figures published Wednesday are a mixed bag to say the least. The unemployment rate fell for the first time in five months, but the number of people claiming the unemployment benefit rose. And in bad news for squeezed British households, wage growth remained subdued and still well below the rate of inflation.

So does the fall in the number of unemployed people mean the government’s cherished hope—that the private sector will create enough opportunities to counter its job cuts in the public sector—is becoming a reality?

A drop in the number of unemployed people is undoubtedly good news, and the government can be rightly claim, as Employment Minister Chris Grayling was quick to do this morning, that it’s a small step in the right direction.

Kesa Electicals’ newly-released half-year results beat analysts’ expectations, putting the City in a good mood about retailers’ prospects over the ever-important Christmas shopping period.

Trading in the U.K. and France appears to be improving, according to Numis analyst Andrew Wade. He reckons earnings forecasts may well need to rise on the back of Kesa’s positive numbers.

Kesa, owner of Comet and Darty, generates a significant proportion of its sales in so-called grey goods, including telecommunications and multimedia products such as mobile telephones, personal computers and laptops.

So news that smartphones, such as Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry, are flying off the shelves and are expected to make up 55% of total market value in 2010, according to U.K. research firm Informa, should give support to all retailers of mobile technology today and in the run-up to Christmas.

“As demand for mid-tier handsets declines, competition in the smartphone segment is set to intensify,” said Malik Kamal-Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms &amp; Media.

The situation is set to get even more exciting for retailers as the developers of mobile technology keep coming up with new ideas in a bid to beat the competition. Hence the rise of new operating systems such as Google’s Android, which is likely to transform the smartphone landscape. According to Informa, this could create new leaders in the mobile handset market.

All that said, initial pre-Christmas retail excitement may be calmed later today, when the UK releases unemployment data.

And all eyes – especially bankers – will be watching with glee when MPs quiz Alistair Darling on his Pre-Budget Report.